Mexican Stuffed Shells W/Bush's Cocina Latina Beans

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I love a great Mexican dish don't you? When I saw this recipe for Mexican Stuffed Shells on Pinterest, I knew immediately I had to make it. I scrolled back to quite a few blogs so I could give credit to the original source of this recipe.

Hmm Pasta with a Mexican flare that really got my taste buds going. The photo on Pinterest looked incredibly delicious, so curiosity got the best of me when it came to this recipe. I love just about anything dish that involves pasta, so I was super excited to get started.

This recipe is similar to traditional Italian Stuffed Shells, but Mexican inspired instead. Jumbo pasta shells stuffed with a mixture of ground beef, onions, garlic, taco seasoning and cream cheese.
 
The traditional Italian sauce is replaced with salsa and taco sauce. Finish it off by topping it with a combination of cheeses. Yummy to say the least. I did adapt this recipe a bit more to my liking.

I added chopped onion and garlic to the ground beef mixture to give it more flavor. I also used a Mexican Cheese Blend of Monterey Jack, Mild Cheddar, Queso Quesadilla and Asadero cheese.

I thought the combination of the four different cheeses was perfect. Next time I'm thinking of adding a can of black beans in with the meat mixture. In the end everyone loved the dish, so I will definitely be making it again.

Speaking of beans I paired the Mexican Stuffed Shells with these tasty new beans from from Bush's, Cocina Latina. I chose the Frijoles a la Mexicana variety (Pinto Beans in a tomato and Serrano sauce with a touch of bacon).

They reminded me of the charro beans that you get in Mexican Restaurants. I can't wait to try other three bean varieties. Cocina Latina beans will be available soon in select markets.

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:
1 1/2 - pounds ground beef
1/2 - small onion, chopped
1 - garlic clove, minced
1 - packet taco seasoning, prepared
4 oz cream cheese
16 - 18 jumbo pasta shells
1 - cup salsa or picante sauce
1 - cup taco sauce, I used taco bell brand
2 - cups Mexican style cheese blend
green onions, cilantro, black olives and sour cream for garnish

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a skillet brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic until cooked through. Drain off any grease.

Add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions (adding the required water). Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blending well.

Set the meat mixture aside and cool completely. While the ground beef mixture is cooling, cook the pasta shells according to directions; drain. Set shells out individually on baking sheet or waxed paper so they don’t stick together.

Pour salsa on bottom of 9×13 baking dish. Stuff each shell with the cooled meat mixture. Place shells in 9×13 pan open side up. Cover shells with taco sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, add shredded cheese and bake for an additional 10-15 more minutes, with the foil removed. Top with any condiments you’d like (green onions, black olives, cilantro, sour cream or salsa).

Recipe adapted from: Blog Chef

Disclosure: I'm a brand ambassador for Bush's Beans and this is a sponsored post. All opinions stated above are entirely my own.